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This Oct. 2, 2014, file photo shows the facade of the New York Stock Exchange. The U.S. stock market opens at 9:30 a.m. EST on Thursday, Feb. 8 2018.Richard Drew / AP

NEW YORK — Stocks are sinking again Thursday, extending a streak of losses that has yanked the market away from record highs. The Dow Jones industrial average slumped more than 600 points. The tumult started last Friday as investors worried about signs of rising inflation.

The market fell steadily as the day wore on and is on track for its fifth loss in the last six days. Many of the companies that led the market’s gains over the last year have struggled badly in the last week. Those including technology companies, banks, and retailers and travel companies and homebuilders.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 index, the benchmark for many index funds in 401(k) accounts, is now down 8.7 per cent from the latest record high it set January 26. It’s still up 14 per cent over the past year.

Stock trading turned volatile over the last several days, breaking an unusually long period of calm. European markets were also lower after the Bank of England said it could raise interest rates in the coming months.

Trader Anthony Carannante, left, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018. U.S. stocks are lower Thursday morning as losses from the previous day continue.Richard Drew /
AP

After huge gains in the first weeks of this year, stocks tumbled Friday after the Labor Department said workers’ wages grew at a fast rate in January. That’s good for the economy, but investors worried it will hurt corporate profits and that rising wages are a sign of faster inflation. It could prompt the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates at a faster pace, which would act as a brake on the economy.

“Far and away the most important things are the fear that the Fed is going to make a mistake, and higher wages are going to cut into margins,” said Scott Wren, senior global equity strategist for Wells Fargo Investment Institute. The worry, he said, is that the Fed will raise interest rates too quickly.

The S&P 500 shed 58 points, or 2.2 per cent, to 2,622 as of 3:10 p.m. Eastern time.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 631 points, or 2.5 per cent, to 24,262. Boeing and Caterpillar took some of the worst losses. The Nasdaq composite fell 164 points, or 2.3 per cent, to 6,887.

Tom Martin, senior portfolio manager with Globalt Investments, said he didn’t see anything specific moving the market lower today, just a continuation of a shift in investor mindset from fear of missing out in a rising market to worry of clocking big losses in a market that’s turned.

“This is going to take longer to work out than people expect,” he said. “In January we talked about fear of missing out. What we have now is what I call fear of getting caught.”

The losses were broad. Four stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange, and 10 out of the 11 industry sectors in the S&P 500 index were down.

High-dividend stocks including phone companies fell. Those stocks are often seen as substitutes for bonds because they tend not to fluctuate that much in price and provide steady income. Those stocks fall out of favour when bond yields rise, as they have been for the past few months, and many expect the trend to continue. The yield on the 10-year note was as low as 2.04 per cent as recently as September.

Trader Jonathan Corpina, center, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Feb. 8, 2018. U.S. stocks are lower Thursday morning as losses from the previous day continue.Richard Drew /
AP

The market didn’t get much help Thursday from company earnings reports, several of which disappointed investors. While U.S. companies mostly did well at the end of 2018, a number of them had a weak finish to the year.

Hanesbrands, which makes underwear, T-shirts and socks, reported a smaller profit than investors expected, and its forecast for the current year didn’t live up to analysts’ estimates either. The company also said it will pay $400 million to buy Australian retailer Bras N Things. The stock dropped $2.11, or 9.6 per cent, to $19.85.

IRobot, which makes Roomba vacuums, plummeted 30 per cent after projected a smaller annual profit than Wall Street was expecting. The stock dropped $26.75 to $61.29.

Twitter had a banner day, soaring 12 per cent after turning in a profit for the first time. Its fourth-quarter revenue was also better than expected. The stock rose $3.32 to $30.23.

Online delivery company GrubHub soared after it announced a partnership with Yum Brands, the parent of Taco Bell and KFC. GrubHub will provide the delivery people and technology to let people order food from those restaurants. GrubHub jumped $17.85, or 25.5 per cent, to $87.76 while Yum Brands dipped $1.94, or 2.4 per cent, to $78.19.

Bond prices wobbled and turned lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.85 per cent from 2.84 per cent.

After a sharp loss Wednesday, benchmark U.S. crude lost 64 cents, or 1 per cent, to $61.15 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, the international standard for oil prices, gave up 70 cents, or 1.1 per cent, to $64.81 per barrel in London.

Wholesale gasoline remained at $1.77 a gallon. Heating oil lost 1 cent to $1.92 a gallon. Natural gas gave up 1 cent to $2.70 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Stocks in Europe declined and bond yields increased after the Bank of England said could raise interest rates in coming months because of the strong global economy. That also sent the pound higher. Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 1.5 per cent and the French CAC 40 lost 2 per cent. Germany’s DAX declined 2.6 per cent.

In Tokyo the Nikkei 225 index rose 1.1 per cent. South Korea’s Kospi gained 0.5 per cent and the Hang Seng of Hong Kong rose 0.4 per cent.

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